Chasing the Kona dream and a Mai Tai cocktail

I am broken after yesterday, the risk did not pay off even though I felt great going through halfway. Did not know at the time but pretty certain I have torn my hamstring. The last 8 miles were just painful!
Will stick up a report later in the week.

London Marathon Race Report

Well another marathon and my 2nd proper sub 3 attempt. The last time I tried a sub 3 was back in Barcelona 2 years ago which resulted in a 3.05 pb. The first 2 months of this training cycle went reasonably ok but March and the start of April were a nightmare. Work took over and training took a back seat. I had all along said I would give sub 3 a go and stupidly stuck to it. I had no intention going over there to run a low 3:0x, what was the point. The only two things which even suggested a sub 3 would be on was a 17:4x 5k time trial and a 20mile around Bohermeen half with 15miles at 6.48 marathon pace.

Travelled over on the Saturday with Michelle and her two friends from the club and got registered whilst they went shopping. Bumped into Joe who scared the cr@p out of me at the Expo. Felt very relaxed and was ready to give sub 3 a proper go.

Up early on Sunday and again feeling nice and relaxed, had a snooze on the train to Blackheath and leisurely made my way to the start line.
As they start introducing the elites just in front of us it was only then the nerves and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. You really cannot beat the atmosphere of the London Marathon.
My plan was simple, to run even splits all the way at close to 6.48mile/sub 3 pace and see where that gets me to.

Mile 1 – 5
First 5 miles flew by and felt effortless. I was mindful the first few miles are quick so was not concerned with slightly faster splits as the effort was comfortable. First mile was a congested start and a 6.58, followed by some faster miles in 6.33, 6.32, 6.38 before bringing it back to a 6.49 mile 5. Felt very good and light on my feet and about 25secs ahead of target.

Mile 6 – 10
Again I was feeling very good. It was around mile 10 I had already written my sub 3 race report in my own head. I cannot remember feeling as good as I did passing the 10 mile marker. I was purposely keeping a hold of the reigns on pace as the legs and body wanted to go quicker. Mile 6-10 passed in 6.48,6.48,6.45, 6.47 and 6.52. This left me still around 25-30secs ahead of schedule and I was soaking up the atmosphere. Took my first gel at mile 7 and had been sipping water at every third aid station (every mile they had one)

Mile 11 – 16
Up over London Bridge and the atmosphere was amazing, slight incline but it was short lived. I still had the sub 3 pace group behind me. Got a good buzz going through halfway at 1:29:34 and in very good shape at the time. It was not until mile 14 or 15 I was starting to have some rumblings in my tummy. I ran on for about 5 minutes or so before deciding that I urgently needed to relief myself, ala Paula Radcliffe style. A quick pit stop and I tucked back in behind the sub 3 pace group. Miles 11-16 passed in 6.46,6.45,6.52,6.56, 7.03 and 9.10 (pit stop). The good times were over after that!!

Mile 17 – 26
The last 10 miles can only be described as a death march. I could not get the legs moving again after the pit stop and was facing a long finish ahead. My energy levels just dropped and I cannot remember much apart from stopping a number of times to stretch out on the run home. I do recall I briefly ended up at a medical somewhere as I was feeling a little dizzy, sick and was getting rather confused (dehydrating at a guess). When I stopped I thought I was at mile 24 instead of 22, I can laugh about it now. Michelle and her friends said they seen me at 19 but I cannot recall it, I think she knew by the state of me I was a goner.

The mile splits of 8.07, 7.40, 8.07, 8.59, 9.04, 9.02, 10.39, 8.03, 7.47 tell a story for a shocking 3.20 something. I was so bloody tired at the finish I had to lay down on the ground. Just needed to find Michelle after that and again another lay down. I was a broken man by the finish, never a marathon hurt so much and I include my two Ironman marathons in that.

It was a risky strategy which did not pay off but I have no regrets as I know judging from how I have felt since (possible sun stroke, torn hamstring) that I gave it a 100% and that’s all you can give. There are no excuses, the training was not good enough and I was not in sub 3 shape, simple as that. You cannot expect to do little or no running 5/6 weeks out and expect to run a sub 3. It will happen one day, hopefully before I am 40.

Just glad I did not see Michelle & the girls at 19 as I would have easily stepped off the course. I will take a few days out to recover and get back into full on work mode. Not sure about doing Frankfurt at this stage, if this marathon has told me anything is not to do things unprepared and that’s what would happen again with work.
A big thanks to my “Doozie” support crew.

Well took a recovery week after London and work settled down for 2 weeks which allowed me to get back in to tri training mode. Managed to get 2 decent weeks in totalling just under 30hrs and around 2100tss. With work cranking up again this week (away 3 days on business) i decided to make hay when the sun shined and will treat this week as a recovery week. Back in the pool and back on the bike, makes a welcome change to just running all the time.

Just had a double race weekend and it was a turning point for me, not in a breakthrough performance sort of way but in other ways. As in for the first time in about 3 years i forgot about chasing x time and beating y person in a race with the pure focus on enjoying my hobby, i did!!

First up on Saturday was my first tri of the year, sort of a last minute decision but decided to go back to Muckno where i done my first tri. Big difference from last time around (http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=72004632&postcount=531).

Swim was a 14:3x coming out but 15:49 by the time i got up that hill and into T1. Some difference from the 20:xx last time around:pac:
Bike i was chasing down packs ahead of me (yes cycling in packs). Buried myself in the last of the 3 loops to get into T2 ahead of a group of 4 or 5.
Bike was a 30:23 compared to a 32:56 last time around in similar conditions.

Run i was hurting going up that blasted hill to the turnaround point but i was enjoying that type of hurt you can only experience in a race. Crossed the line with a 21:32 and a 1:08;38 overall. 4min pb over the distance and nearly a 10min improvement over the same course from last time around.

Sunday was the local Boyne 10k. I had a number already lined up but the legs were bunched from Saturdays race. Decided about 15mins before the race to leg it down and see what the legs had in them. Aimed to run under 40 as its a hilly course but a quick pitstop seen me come in a 40:16. Passed the house and the kids around 8k (top of heartbreak hill) and it really spurred me on. Ended up in a flat out drag race with 2 other clubmates who had a gap of about 50-70mtrs on me with 1k to go. Took one with about 400 to go and the other with about 50mtrs to the line, you cannot beat a sprint finish.
The sign of someone in pain but happy out:) JB version 2.1

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Great to see a satisfied race report from you Fran. Have you considered knocking the longer epic stuff on its head, in favour of Sprints and Oly's? What other races are you down for this summer (besides the IM)? Are you still doing Lough Cutra Oly?

Yes longer stuff will likely be knocked on the head until 2016/2017, this year and next is just so busy. Don't get me wrong i love long course but i think after Frankfurt this year i will go back to doing SPR,OLY and HIM as and when i can.
Doing the OLY in Lough Cutra, possibly looking at doing either Tri Athy or Tri & Mhi HIM and then obviously Frankfurt. After that i am away in Mickeymouseland for 3 weeks so will look at doing some SPR & OLY when i get back.
Could look like
Caroline Kearney - if entries are not gone 09/08
DCT - OLY - 24/08
Newry City - SPR - 31/08
Belfast Titanic - OLY - 07/09 to end the season

griffin100 wrote: »

You'll never be able to deny the hobbit insults after posting that pic
Nice to see you back in the swing of things.

Ha, in my defence he is one of the tallest guys in the club at 6 4.

Dory Dory wrote: »

First, nice quads. hubba, hubba.
Second, you've just reminded ALL of us why we do what we do. Thank you.
Third, congrats on a super weekend of racing.

Oryx wrote: »

Dory always says what I am thinking. Hubba hubba.
Well done. Nice to see you racing and getting the results you work for.

Jeez Dory & Oryx, calm yourselves there is enough to go around:)

mossym wrote: »

this thread needs more of that type of report. Well done Fran. nice times off the back of little tri training. maybe more local raceswould bea good thing? More lost sheep entries coming up in a couple of weeks:)
although, at a guess, i'd say you know exactly what you are doing for the rest of the season already:)

Cheers M. Yeah a few local races will be thrown in. The only races paid for are Lough Cutra and Frankfurt, as per above i will likely do those races listed.

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Woohoo, happiness. Good stuff Fran thanks for the chirpy report

Beats the usual moany reports of "i puked in my wetsuit" or "some German thought he was Bruce Lee"

BennyMul wrote: »

Congrats Fran, nice weekend. +1 on the nice legs

Ah here not you on the legs as well, what is it with the legs, is it the white schoolgril socks:P

Finally entered some races and have a rough plan for having some fun races for the rest of the year, feck doing no racing and putting all the eggs into an IM basket!!

Tris (all entered)
Lough Cutra - OLY - 25th May
James McManus Cavan - SPR - 31st May
IM Frankfurt - 06th July
DCT - Oly - 24th August
Newry City Tri - SPR - 31st August
Belfast City Tri - OLY - 07th September

Bike racing (provisional)
Sean Nolan GP Navan - 08th June
Christy McManus - 14th June or the Noel & Kieran Mem on the 15th June
Louth 10 mile TT - 18th June
Collins Christie Mem - 10th August
Louth Hill Champs (need to put bikies down for this) - 28th August
Some of the club races on a Thurs night as and when i can.

1 or 2 road races running as and when i feel like it....should keep me occupied.:)

15hrs training last week and one race, broken down as 3hrs/8.3k swim, 9.5hrs/278.4k on the bike and 2.5hrs/30.4k on the run. Training was a bit hit and miss for the week and i moved things around a fair bit.

2nd tri race of the season seen me up in Cavan on Saturday for the James McManus sprint. Having missed Cutra the week previous i was looking forward to getting back out there and having some fun.

James McManus Memorial - SPR tri
Cracking day for a race, arrived about an hour before the start which left me with plenty of time to get registered, racked up and a decent warm up. Headed out on the bike and joined Ed for a run warm up. Some gobsh1te was trying to run us off the road in his car...turns out it was just Tunney playing a game of chicken:)

Swim
Lined up 2nd or 3rd row to the left and off we went. Water temp was grand, not cold at all. Struggled to get into my swimming, turned the first buoy heading right and i found the chop in the lake was making me feel dizzy. I had the skull cap and ear plugs in but no tablets taken (thought a SPR would be ok). I knew i was swimming badly and felt pretty fvked coming out of the water in a dreadful 15:50, it felt like i had swam an IM swim!.
15:50 and 59th out of 117, giving away 5mins in the swim to the front of the race.
T1
I was all over the shop in T1 and was doing stupid things like stumbling over myself trying to get the wetsuit off.
1.02 and 59th out of 117
Bike
I was feeling a little off from the swim for about 10mins into the bike until i started to settle. I overtook a good few and lost count. Power was down from what it should have been (putting this down to the swim) but managed to hold 36kmph and 10th fastest bike split, given low power i obviously have a decent setup on the bike but still about 2mins back to fastest split of the day.
33:36 and 10th out of 117
Run
Run was pretty poor, ran the first 2k hard and reeling a few more bodies in. Spotted Ed heading on the back section to what looked like an easy win and looking comfortable. Tried to surge past a few bodies with 1/2k to go, managed to get by a few but left 2 or 3 out front as the legs were toast. Effort had felt like a low 18min run so was surprised to see it as slow.
19:49 and 17th out of 117
1:10:54 and 23rd out of 117
Overall a well run race and one that i would recommend. The swim has left me a little concerned about Frankfurt as i thought i had swim issues sorted, need to get into the OW a lot more in the next 4 or 5 weeks.

This week i think i will take it handy enough then give it a lash for two weeks and then taper, training for an IM is over rated any way:)

Looks like i made it into the elite starting wave of 300 for Frankfurt, not that i will have an elite finish time to warrant such a starting point:o. After what happened in the mass start last year (2500 all at once) it goes without saying that i am somewhat relieved.
This should have me swimming in clear water for most of it, i feel more comfortable out of the draft and madness that can go with it.
Hopefully it should have me around faster bikers so i can draft off them and suck their wheels, do a 4:30 bike split and have fresh legs to run a low 3hr marathon :pac: (joking obv)

Like every pimple faced teenager facing their exams it feels like i am cramming in some training at the last minute to gain some half decent fitness.
Another solid week at 18.5hrs, as 10.9k/3.5hrs swim, 341.5k/10.75hrs bike and 53.3k/4.25hrs for the run. Hours not so bad considering Monday was a rest day.
Some decent sessions in there
Wednesdays long 3.8k swim/160k bike and short run combo
I had a decent 30k run on the Saturday with Ryan out on his bike for half of it
4.5hrs on the bike yesterday with an A4 race thrown in for good measure (race report below).

With 4 weeks to go to FF i am unsure to go with an easy week this week and then lift it for the week after with 2 weeks easy or to go big again this week and then reduce training over the remaining 3 weeks. Suck it and see approach i guess.

Sunday: Sean Nolan GP - A4 race
My first bit of bike racing for the year. I had decided to get some bike miles in the legs today so planned on cycling over & back to the race start along with the 80k race.
With the cycle over and a missed turn i had 45k clocked up before race start. Quickly registered, paid my €10 and headed for the start. There is an awful lot to be said about bike racing, there is no fuss, pay your dough and away you go.

Just before the start it bucketed down which left the roads greasy and wet, i would be lying if i said i was not a tad bit nervous as i was trying to think about not crashing. In fairness barring a crash in the final sprint the bunch was well behaved without any messing going on. It was a 2 loop rolling & tough enough little course. I had planned to just sit in for the first lap and watch how things unfolded.

The pace for the first 30-40k was very stop start, balls out, breather, balls out, rinse & repeat. I felt good though as i passed through 30k of the race and 75k into my spin. There was a few popping off the front but nothing of note really sticking. I decided to make my way to the front and noticed two strong looking lads up the road and they were increasing the gap into the bunch. Decided to see how the legs responded. Came out wide on the right and started to bridge across, turned briefly and noticed i had put a decent gap in. Kept drilling it, passed one of the lads who broke and looked as if his lights went out. Kept going but was starting to struggle as had been holding 400w for about 2 or 3 mins at this stage, had put maybe 10-15secs into the pack but with a headwind i sat up as i really could of done with someone coming with me. I had another pop off the front around 50k with 2 or 3 others but we were swallowed up quickly.

About 60k into the race (105k into cycle) the energy levels started to drop and i was starting to feel my earlier efforts and the long run in the legs along with the heavy weeks training. I stupidly only brought one gel and a bar with me, both had been long consumed and there was nothing else on the menu. Dropped to the middle of the bunch and then to the back for the final few kms. Just rolled in as i was in no shape to contest a sprint finish.
Quick coffee and some sambos and i was fine making my 30k trip back home on the bike to round off 150k for the day in 4.5hrs. Power was ok but it showed me that 6 weeks ad hoc cycling training does not a cyclist make:rolleyes:

Really considering a fully bike focussed year for 2015. I am going to have less hours available for training with work next year and you can get in pretty good bike shape in 8-10hrs a week. That and i enjoy the bike the most, its the one thing i could actually do ok in:o, i have decent power (when trained) and am light enough (when race fit).

There is a 3day a4 race in Omagh at the end of the month, seriously considering it even though its a week before FF.